


By the River

by spongiform-encephalopathies (turketspy)



Category: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-04-21 10:57:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14283426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turketspy/pseuds/spongiform-encephalopathies
Summary: In which two friends are reunited, a girl falls in love with the spirit of a river, and he falls even more in love with her than he already was.





	1. Chapter 1

"All right everyone, thank you. You're dismissed. Don't forget your assignments for after spring break. Chihiro, may I speak with you?" 

Chihiro looks up from packing up her bag. "Me, ma'am?"

Her teacher nods. It has only been three years since she and her family moved to the United States with her father's business, and she still finds herself slightly confused just about any time her teachers call her by her given name. Her friends gently tease her for it, saying it's been long enough that she should be used to it by now, but three years isn't enough to override fourteen years of only her close family calling her by her given name. And even though it had been three years, she and her parents do still visit family in Japan every summer. No, she'll still find it a bit strange. 

The rest of her classmates slowly filter out of the room. The rain pattering on the glass of the windows is the reason for the delay. Even though it's the start of the weekend, the first warm one they've had in a while, and the start of spring break, no one wants to go out in the cold rain. She finishes putting away her notebooks and pens, trying desperately not to let herself get too anxious over what her teacher could possibly want to speak with her about after class. 

After the last of her classmates leaves, Chihiro stands and approaches the desk at the front of the classroom. Her teacher smiles at her warmly and pulls a stapled stack of pages out of a blue folder, placing it on the desk between them. 

"Chihiro, you are an amazing writer," her teacher begins, "but this may just be the best work you have ever turned in to me. Tell me a bit about your process here. What was your inspiration?"

Chihiro looks at the pages in front of her, the title page reading in simple black font, "Spirited Away." She knows every word of that story by heart, having turned them over and over in her head every night for seven years. From the abandoned theme park to the four-armed slave to the boiler, and from the hideous witch who stole names to the kind-hearted boy with dark teal hair who could transform into a dragon. She could recall in minute detail the sulfurous stench of the Radish Spirit, the noxious fumes from the herbal soak, the intoxicating aromas of the massive volumes of food brought before the monster No-Face, and the bitter metallic scent of Haku's blood as it stained her hands and clothes. Every word of the tale written in those pages is too fantastical for any human being to see as anything but fiction, but Chihiro lived it all. 

“It was based on a recurring dream I had as a child,” she explains carefully, her voice as even as she can manage. “It started when I was ten years old, when we moved from the country to a new city for my dad's job. I don't know exactly how I managed to come up with it all” a lie “but it’s the most vivid memory I have from my childhood. Next to the story at the end about falling into the Kohaku River. I remember that very well, too.”

“Amazing,” her teacher replies. “That is simply amazing. Do you plan on publishing this?”

Chihiro shakes her head. “I hadn't thought about it.”

“You should give it some thought. This is a fantastic piece of writing and I think it could do very well. I have a few friends in three publishing business who I could forward it to, if you'd like. I'm sure they would love it.”

“Thank you,” Chihiro says, “I'll think about it. I'll have to speak with my parents about it.”

“Let me know, okay?” her teacher says, putting the story back in the folder and handing it to Chihiro. 

“I will,” Chihiro responds, taking the folder. “Thank you.”

“Of course, Chihiro. Do you have any plans for spring break?”

The sudden change of subject rattles her a bit, but Chihiro has an answer for this one. “My dad got the week off, so we’re going to Japan to visit with family.”

“How exciting!” That seems genuine enough. “Safe travels, and have fun! I’ll see you the week after next.”

“See you then,” Chihiro replies, waving. She makes her way out the door and down the hall without looking back. After her time in the spirit world and Haku’s warning of, “Don’t look back until you’re out of the tunnel,” she hardly ever looks back anymore. She’s found it to be a good practice. 

\-----

She isn’t sure what made her pack the folder with her story in her carry on. She isn’t sure why she brought it at all, really, but when she looked at it on her desk something inside her told her she would need it. So now it’s sitting in her bag, totally innocuous to anyone who doesn’t know what it is. 

She also isn’t sure why it makes her so anxious. It’s just a stack of papers. And to anyone reading it, it’s just a fantastical tale with no basis in reality in the slightest. After all, humans can’t turn into pigs. And it isn’t possible to pass into the spirit world, even though there are plenty of legends suggesting otherwise. But still, the thought of someone finding it and reading it makes her stomach twist uncomfortably. 

The lights dim about an hour into their flight and Chihiro puts her seat back in an attempt to relax, if not sleep. It doesn’t come easily. She turns several times, readjusts her pillow several more, and finally ends with her blanket over her head and her pillow bunched up under her neck. 

For the first time in a long time, she dreams of the boy with dark teal hair and sea green eyes that twinkle like starlight on the waves.

\-----

The day they spend visiting family in the country is always Chihiro’s favorite day of their visits to Japan. Her aunt and uncle live in the small town she grew up in, and so she’s able to visit the places she loved as a child. Most of the time that means walking by the apartments that took the place of the Kohaku River and smiling wistfully at the thought of seeing Haku again. This time, it means going with her aunt and uncle to a small outdoor café that they used to frequent before she and her parents moved. 

Amid conversation about people who have died and people who have moved away and recent demolitions, Chihiro’s aunt turns to her and says, “Chihiro, do you remember that river that you fell into? The one that the town filled in to build the apartments?”

Chihiro nods, her mouth full.

“I guess they decided that we needed that waterway back, because they dug a new river not too far from here and named it after the first one. What was it called?”

Nearly breathless, Chihiro responds, “The Kohaku River.” 

“That’s it!”

While her family continues to chat, Chihiro feels as though she's dropped into a hole that stretches into a very long tunnel. Her ears ring and she can’t seem to catch her breath and the only thing she can hear over the ringing is her heart pounding like a war drum, feeling like it’s hammering against her ribs and trying to break free. The Kohaku River. They are giving it the same name as the previous river. But could that mean..?

“Where is it?” she finally bursts. 

Her aunt stumbles over the sentence in her mouth, instead sputtering, “Where is what, Chihiro?”

“The river,” Chihiro implores. “Where is the river?”

“It’s about three streets past where the old river was,” her aunt stammers.”Why?”

But Chihiro is already on her feet, grabbing her jacket and her backpack and kissing her mom and aunt on their heads. “Thank you for lunch! It was great, but I need to go meet a friend. I’ll be home later tonight!” 

Her last sentiment is a single-word shout as she runs down the street toward the apartments. It isn't far, and she knows the field where they would have dug the new river. She can make it there in five minutes if she runs the whole way. Silently she thanks the gods that her father convinced her to run cross country. 

She dodges traffic, not without a few near-misses that earn her several shouts from several drivers and passersby. She barely hears them, though. Instead she hears, “Will I ever see you again?” “I’m sure.” “Promise?” “Promise.” Over and over her last conversation with Haku plays in her head. She was so focused on him that sure can't even remember exactly what the field she stood in front of looked like, but she remembers those last words and his promise that they would meet again. 

She passes the apartments and races across one street, then the second, then the third. Finally, the suburban scene parts and in front of her sprawls a grassy field, dotted with pink and yellow wildflowers and split by a wide strip of dark blue water. Foot paths line it on both banks with small bridges spanning it every few meters. Children laugh and play in the grass on the far bank, chasing one another and squealing in delight when they are caught. Teenagers lounge on blankets underneath trees that have been carefully planted to ensure that the entire length of the river is shaded, at least through the town. 

Though the sight is truly beautiful, Chihiro’s heart sinks. Even if Haku were here, would she ever be able to find him? Would he even look the same? Would he still be the twelve-year-old boy with a teal bob and puffy work pants? Or would he have grown older? Would his eyes still sparkle when he saw her? Or would he even remember her? 

Feeling more than a little hopeless, Chihiro scans the crowd on the near bank, noting with dismay that no one even remotely resembles the boy she knew. She scans every face, every head of hair, but no one familiar stands out. She looks to the far bank and only sees more of the same, unfamiliar faces and no trace of dark teal or sea green. 

Slightly dizzied by the run over and more than slightly nauseated, she makes her way on leaded limbs down the riverbank. She tries her best to stave off the burning tears that threaten to spill over at any second, but the disappointment and heartache can't be overcome. If people stare at the girl walking along the river with tears streaming down her face, she doesn't notice. She finds an unoccupied patch of grass beneath a flowering tree and sits, knees pulled up tight to her chest, staring into the shimmering ripples of the water with tears forming salty crusts at the corners of her eyes and a hollow ache in her chest. 

She isn’t sure how long she’s been sitting there when she’s finally cried all the tears she can muster, but the sky has turned a brilliant shade of sunset orange and most of the children have gone home. Only a few teenagers and adults remain, scattered about along both banks. She looks over the groups, fragile hope blooming in the hollow pit in her chest. At first no one stands out to her, the remaining people all forming small groups that close themselves off to outsiders. But then she notices a lone figure strolling away from her down the opposite bank. 

She isn’t sure exactly what, but something about the figure draws her in. They’re tall, much taller than she would imagine Haku to be even if he’s aged since she last saw him, and the clothes are wrong. They’re wearing jeans, a hoodie, a denim jacket, and sneakers. She can’t even discern their hair color with the harsh orange of the sunset obscuring it. There seems to be absolutely no reason for this figure to stand out to her. But they do. 

She jumps up, stumbling on numb legs, and races toward the nearest bridge. She keeps her eyes on the figure, nearly falling into the river as she crosses the bridge, trying desperately to catch up. Though there are very few people between them, when Chihiro reaches the far bank she stumbles through two groups, the delay creating more space between her and the figure. And somehow, despite the figure moving at a slow stroll and Chihiro running as fast as she can carry herself, the figure recedes into the distance and out of sight. The moment she realizes there will be no catching the mysterious figure, Chihiro stops and slumps to the ground. 

\-----

It’s well-past dark when Chihiro finally walks in the door of her aunt and uncle’s house. She feels like she’s just run a marathon. All of her muscles scream and her feet feel like lead. If she had the energy, she’d probably cry. But her tears are long dried up and she’d used the last dregs of her energy stores to drag herself back home. Eyes and throat stinging from dryness, she makes her way into the kitchen for a bottle of water. 

Her mother and aunt are sitting at the small breakfast table chatting, but they stop when they notice Chihiro enter the room. 

“Chihiro, sweetie, are you okay?” her mom asks, standing up to reach out to her. “You look terrible!” 

Her aunt gets up and pulls out a chair, ushering her to sit down. Chihiro waves her off, moving instead to open the fridge and take out a cold bottle of water. 

“Did everything go okay with your friend?” her aunt asks instead, hesitating to sit back down. 

“They didn’t show up,” Chihiro croaks, grimacing at the sting in the back of her throat that the words cause. Seeing her mother and aunt both move to comfort her, Chihiro puts up a hand. “I’m fine. It was a long shot anyway. I’m gonna go lie down for a while. Come get me for dinner?” 

Her mother nods. 

Chihiro makes her way upstairs to the room she used to share with her cousin when they came to visit, But with her cousin at university, she has the room to herself. She changes out of her sweaty clothes into a pair of track pants and a loose-fitting t-shirt and flops down into bed. She’s asleep before her head hits the pillow, and this time when she dreams of Haku, she’s falling through a starry sky, reaching for him, but he’s just out of reach. 

\-----

She awakes some time later to her mother sitting on her bed, pressing a cool cloth to her forehead. Before she can sit up and protest, her mother shushes her, “You have a fever, Chihiro. You need to rest. I’ll bring a plate up for you in a bit. Just try to relax for now.”

Head spinning, Chihiro floats back onto her pillow and dozes off. 

\-----

Somewhere cold and dark, someone opens their eyes for the first time in a very, very long time.

\-----

Before she even opens her eyes, Chihiro winces at the light streaming through the window at the foot of her bed. She gets up and makes her way downstairs toward the smell of cooking meat and the sound of quiet laughter. Her parents are sitting at the breakfast table while her aunt and uncle bustle around the stove, stirring bubbling pots and sizzling pans. Her mother looks up at her and smiles. 

“Good morning, Chihiro. Are you feeling better?”

“A bit,” Chihiro mumbles. She doesn’t say that her mouth feels like it’s full of cotton and her head feels like it’s filled with bees, and all of the muscles in her arms and legs feel like they’re going to pull from her hollow-feeling bones. 

Her mother nods, “Good. Because we have some news for you.”

Chihiro mentally braces herself. Usually when her parents have news for her it spells trouble. 

Her father speaks up, “Our plans with your grandmother fell through, so we’re going to be spending the rest of the week here with your aunt and uncle.” 

“You just like staying here so much, we thought that you would appreciate a few extra days,” her mom adds. “And who knows, maybe you’ll get to meet with your friend after all.”

Chihiro nods. Of course she can’t argue with it, because she does love staying in the country with her aunt and uncle. And she wouldn’t mind a couple more days to explore the new river. She has her doubts about meeting Haku, but the thought does make her heart flutter.

“That sounds like fun, mom” she says, smiling. Her head still feels like it’s full of bees, and her muscles still feel like they’re going to pull away from her bones, but her mouth isn’t filled with cotton anymore and there’s a faint glimmer of hope shining on her horizon.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun is high in the sky before Chihiro makes it down to the river that day. She’d helped her aunt with chores and run some errands with her mother, then helped her uncle mend the fence around his chicken coop where a clever feral cat had managed to squeeze through. It hadn’t gotten any of the chickens, but a nesting hen had startled so badly that she’d crushed two of the three eggs she had been brooding. 

She makes her way into town and down to the river, her backpack slung over her shoulder and a blue and white checkered blanket in her arms. She picks a shaded spot on the far bank to spread her blanket, a few yards downstream from the bridge she’d nearly fallen over the night before. There aren’t as many people as there were the day before, only a few young children play on the grassy hill behind her, their parents watching from a bench near the bridge, and two couples are seated under a tree almost directly across the river from Chihiro. Little black birds hop about and splash in the gentle current near the bank, and Chihiro smiles at them fondly. After a minute of just watching the birds, she sets about settling into her spot. She puts in earbuds and hits shuffle on the playlist her best friend shared with her the night before she left for Japan. The music is a bit more edgy than she would normally listen to, but she doesn’t dislike it, and she nods to the beat as she pulls the folder containing her story from her bag.

She still hasn’t brought up publishing it to her parents. She hasn’t even brought up the story itself to her parents, preferring instead to hold it close to her heart. Because if they don’t read it, they can’t tell her how ridiculous it all sounds. But, she thinks, it would make an excellent novel. It reads a bit like  _ Alice in Wonderland _ , but with higher stakes and fewer friendly faces. And, she supposes, it is distinctly Japanese. She smiles down at the cover page at the title.  _ Spirited Away _ . Much better than  _ Chihiro in Wonderland _ . Take that, Alice.

Even though she knows every word held in the pages by heart, Chihiro opens to the first page and begins to read. 

\-----

She’s just getting to her first meeting with Kamaji when Chihiro feels a familiar prickle on the back on her neck. She tries to ignore it at first, but it only gets more insistent until she looks up. Across the river stands a young man who looks utterly lost. His crisp white shirt is just too big and he looks vaguely uncomfortable and out of place in the jeans and sneakers he’s wearing, but what really draws Chihiro’s attention is his dark teal hair that’s pulled into a neat bun at the base of his skull. Her heart skips a beat.

He’s much taller than he was when she was ten, and broader, almost like a swimmer. And he’s  _ just _ too far away for her to get a good look at him, but she’s almost positive it’s him. It has to be him. Her feet carry her, without her conscious consent, to the edge of the water. Her movement catches his attention and he turns to look at Chihiro directly. He frowns for a moment, then realization dawns on him and a bright smile lights up his pointed features. And from where Chihiro stands, she can see his sea-green eyes sparkle and shine like reflections on the waves lapping at her feet. 

“Haku?” she whispers. She sees his lips move, but can’t hear what he says over the rush of the river and the pounding in her chest. Her heart jumps into her throat and blood rushes in her ears. She blinks and suddenly he’s in front of her, his hand hovering beside her cheek. 

“Chihiro?” he asks, low and uncertain, like he’s afraid of the answer.

She thinks of leaning into his hand, but the excitement of hearing his voice saying her name overcomes her and she throws her arms around his neck, tears of joy welling in her eyes and laughter bubbling up from deep within her. “Haku!” 

He spins her around, laughing, “It really is you!” 

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” she cries into his shoulder. 

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, either,” he admits, his voice as soft as a summer breeze. “How did you know I’d be able to come back?” 

“I didn’t,” she responds, pulling back to look at him.  “But I hoped you would.” 

He looks back at her with wonder-filled eyes and asks, ”Did you just save my life again, Chihiro?”

“Again?” she repeats quizzically.

“When you gave me back my name all those years ago, you saved my life Chihiro,” Haku explains. “Without you, I would have been stuck working for Yubaba who knows how long. Maybe forever.”

“You would have found a way out,” Chihiro mumbles, but inside she’s glowing. 

“I highly doubt that,” he replies with a smile. “And if you hadn't come to the river yesterday, I don't know that I would ever have found my way back.” 

“I'm glad you did,” she says, burying her face in his shirt. When she inhales, he smells like the clean spring air and a warm summer rain. 

“Me too.”

\-----

Haku looks up from the page he’s reading, horror etched on his face. “Did you really say that to Yubaba?”

Chihiro looks at the quote he’s pointing to and shrugs sheepishly. “More or less. It may have been a little different than I remember. I only wrote this out a couple months ago for my creative writing class.” 

“Chihiro,” he pauses, weighing his words carefully. “That was was either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. Yubaba could have easily decided to turn you into a pig yourself and there wouldn’t have been anything anyone could have to stop her. She-”

“But she didn’t, Haku,” Chihiro interrupts. “She didn’t, and I got out, and now we’re both here in the human world. It’s more than ten-year-old me could have ever hoped for.” 

Stopping for a moment to consider her next words, Chihiro sighs, “And now my creative writing teacher wants me to consider publishing my story. She says it could do really well. The only problem with that is that I don’t know that I necessarily want everyone in the world to be able to read it. And I know I couldn’t handle any criticism. Because it’s not like I just invented it, y’know? I lived it. It’s real.” 

Haku reaches over and wipes away a tear from her cheek she hadn’t even realized had fallen. “So why the hesitation? You don’t have to publish it.”

“I know I don’t,” she responds. “But I think I want to.” 

Haku closes the folder and hands it back to Chihiro. “Then you should.” 

“I’d have to talk to my parents about it.” 

“Would that be a problem?” 

“I don’t know,” Chihiro admits. “I never told them about it.” 

Haku moves closer and wraps an arm around her. “Maybe it’s time to.” 

She nods. “I think you might be right.” 

There’s a long pause, filled with nothing but the babbling of the river and the chattering of birds in the tree above them. It’s a comfortable silence, Chihiro finds. She hasn’t been able to feel comfortable in silence since she got back to the human world so many years ago. After the constant din of Yubaba’s bathhouse, prolonged silences make her anxious. But with Haku’s warmth at her side, she feels comfort in the quiet between them. 

Time continues, despite how much Chihiro would love it to stay put for a while, and finally she pulls away.

“It’s getting late,” she sighs. “I should get back to my aunt and uncle’s house before everyone starts to worry.” 

“Will you be back?” Haku asks, brows drawn together with concern. 

“First thing in the morning,” Chihiro promises. 

“Alright, then,” Haku smiles. He helps her to her feet and helps her pack up her things. Before she walks away, he wraps her in one more hug and presses a kiss into her forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

\-----

Chihiro is still blushing when she closes the side door to the house behind her, and when she removes her shoes, and when she walks into the kitchen to see her family gathered around the breakfast table playing some complicate-looking card game. Her mother smiles at her, seeming to not notice the pink hue to her cheeks. 

“You seem to be in a better mood tonight. Did you find your friend, Chihiro?” she asks.

“I did,” Chihiro replies. 

“Oh that’s wonderful, sweetie! I’m so happy for you! Will you be seeing them again tomorrow?”

“Yes, we have plans first thing in the morning,” Chihiro explains. 

“You’d better get to bed soon, then,” her aunt says. “Have you eaten yet?” 

“No ma’am, not yet.” 

“There’s leftover stew in the fridge,” her uncle says. “Help yourself.” 

Chihiro nods her thanks and sets about warming up a bowl of stew, feeling like he feet aren’t quite touching the floor. Her head is spinning while she eats, and doesn’t stop through her shower or when she logs into her computer to check her email. There’s an email from her teacher with the contact information for a publisher and a note that says, “I spoke to my friend and he’d love to read your story. You can mail him a copy at this address if your parents are okay with it. Hope you’re enjoying your trip!” 

When she finally curls up under her blankets, her head has stopped spinning, but her thoughts spiral restlessly around the river, her email, and the kiss she can still feel burning on her forehead. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe the positive response this has gotten. I had abolutely zero expectations. Thank you to everyone who's left comments and kudos. It was actually a comment that I received today that inspired me to finish this chapter. Hopefully it won't take quite so long to finish the next one.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is my first time trying to write anything for this fandom. Be gentle with me. I just. I watched the movie one night (for like the umpteenth time because it's one of my absolute favorites), and I just needed to write them seeing each other again.


End file.
